So You Think You Can Dance 3, June 28th – Viewers Strike Back

Tonight’s opening number is “The Lioness Hunt” from the Broadway musical “The Lion King.” From the costuming to the make-up to the dance itself of course, I really like this piece. It looks incredibly professional with just the right amount of independent movement and choreographed syncopation.

Cat Deeley emerges in a delightful green dress… except for the funky bow thing in the back. Not sure what that’s all about. She thanks Tyce Dioro for his choreography. The camera cuts to him and… he’s txting away. He looks up and gives a goofy grin, so I’m not sure if he really was caught red-handed or if was faking the faux pas. “Don’t look so surprised, it was fabulous!” Cat says, either bailing him out or having no clue what he’s up to. She then informs us that we voted over five million times after the performance show… which would be considered a ‘dead’ show over at American Idol.

It’s time to dole out the judgments. The first two couples on stage are Neil and Lauren and Kameron and Lacey. And Happy Birthday Lacey! Lauren and Neil took on their second ballroom routine, the tango. It wasn’t as smooth or aggressive as it could’ve been, and Neil was doing some weird head-snapping motion; however, apparently Neil dances like a “dude,” so that’s great. Lacey and Kameron performed the quickstep, and after rehearsing with Tony Meredith, they were hoping to raise the bar… that was holding Kameron’s shoulders and arms in the proper stance during practice. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was quick enough for the judges’ liking, but it did speed up in a few spots, and the judges were happy. It was cheery and entertaining, and they did well despite the dance usually being the “kiss of death” on the show.

Cat slathers on the suspense: one couple is safe, the other is in the bottom three. The couple who is safe tonight is Lacey and Kameron. Awww, they look so cute together. Cat cuts over to Mary Murphy, who says she’s surprised because they’re one of the strongest couples who are developing better and better chemistry every week. Um… but did you tell them there tango wasn’t up to par? I’m confused. Why are you shocked? Ugh.

The next three couples up for evaluation are Hok and Jaimie, Dominic and Sabra, and Jesús and Sara. Jamie and Hok performed a fascinating and memorable “jazz” routine. I’m with LauraBelle on this one: while the piece is incredibly beautiful, it doesn’t appear to be jazz at all. I’m dead sure that the very-classical music that was playing during the routine would never be heard at a jazz club. Something tells me this is just Wade showing off his skills, regardless of what he’s SUPPOSED to be doing. Regardless, everyone loves it, calling it genius and brilliant. Hok played a hummingbird, and Mary said he soared like an eagle. Hok… hummingbird… eagle… there’s a joke in there somewhere. Nigel promises that fans of the show will remember the piece for a very long time. (I still remember Mia’s contemporary ‘bench’ routine from last year.) Of course, they’re safe, and everyone cheers.

Sabra and Dominic performed the show’s first rumba (though I could’ve sworn I’ve seen it before… maybe I’m thinking of the samba…), and Jean Marc Genereaux took them through the steps. I’m not a big fan of Dominic’s cheesy antics, but I’ve got to give him props for achieving what most b-boys and hip-hoppers have not been able to accomplish. He and Sabra earned yet another one of Mary’s annoying screams. They wait for their results as Cat reviews Sara and Jesús.

Lil’ C looked on last night as the pair attempted to take on his choreography. While I realize that he is trying to take the dance he “invented” in a new direction, I’m not sure if I liked it. I thought krumping was about aggression, claiming one’s turf, and battling via dance. And now it appears he was trying to take most of the ‘battle’ aspect out of it. Eh. I wasn’t all that impressed, even though I do think Jesús did do a good job outside of his element. Despite the judges’ praises, Sara and Jesús end up in the bottom three. When Cat asks Debbie Allen for her opinion, she says that America is asking to see them one-on-one and that is a beautiful thing. Wow. Just wow. She’s even better at this always-cheerful-and-complimentary thing than Paula Abdul is! Crazy.

We now review the drama of Pasha and Jessi from last night. They were doing well enough in rehearsal, but when it came time to do a morning run-through, she felt weak, had chest pains, had trouble breathing, and ended up going to the hospital. She was ordered by her doctors to rest, so Pasha had to dance with Tony Meredith’s assistant, a Bette Midler drag queen. He, of course, looked fantastic. Oh, and I guess his dancing was good too. Hee.

Nigel tells us that Jessi’s been cleared by the doctors to dance tonight. Even though she’s automatically going to have to “dance for her life,” they’ve decided to let her and Pasha dance their routine that they’d been working so hard on. Jessi appears on stage with Pasha, wearing a tiny, sparkly, gold outfit, and she looks GREAT. I mean, wow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone come out of the hospital looking THAT good. The two of them do very well, and they are able to show off a couple of flips and lifts that Pasha wasn’t able to do last night with his older, curvier temporary partner. As Cat says, that certainly was worth waiting for. When asked, Jessi explains that she got dehydrated and her EKG (electrical activity of the heart) was “off.” She thanks the crowd for their support and says she watched Pasha on stage last night, calling him her “boyfriend.” Pasha gets a surprised (scared?) look on his face, and Jessi corrects herself, saying he’s her wannabe-boyfriend. She goes on to say that he came to visit her in the hospital and held her hand, causing all the girls in the audience to let out a collective, romantic sigh. However, Cat reminds her that she will be dancing for her survival tonight. Fortunately, Pasha is safe and will be assuredly continuing on to the next round.

There are only two couples who are still waiting for their results, one of which will be in the bottom three: Cedric and Shauna, and Danny and Anya. Cedric and Shauna are a ‘new’ couple and were given a contemporary routine by Mia Michaels. It was so… bleh. I thought it was funny how Mia had “choreographed” Cedric to sit in a corner for a few seconds while Shauna danced around the stage. That was his best dancing ever! Even the judges caught on to that. Nigel’s sure that Cedric will be leaving the show, and I’m expecting to see him and Shauna in the bottom three tonight.

Anya and Danny performed a hip-hop routine last night, which was way out of Anya’s comfort zone. And although you could see the “iffy” parts of her dancing, I think they did alright and weren’t nearly as bad as some of the other couples. Nigel says that because they are so good, he holds them to a higher standard than he does the other couples… which I think is bull. That’s like the teacher who gives the valedictorian a ‘B’ because he/she didn’t put enough EFFORT into earning their ‘A’. I mean… if Nigel gives the other couples a ‘7’ out of 10 and expects them to get a 9 next time…. What does he expect Anya and Danny to do if he gave them a ‘10’? Come on.

However, after five million votes, America has decided that Shauna and Cedric are safe. I’m a little bit surprised, but I think that they got a sympathy vote. Teens and viewers can get defensive, and when judges harp on a contestant TOO much, voters backlash. Look at Sanjaya. Also, while viewers consider contemporary pieces to be beautiful and wonderful, they’re much pickier (I think) when it comes to hip-hop, a genre they’re probably more familiar with. As Nigel says, sometimes viewers not only vote for the dancers but also for the choreography pieces. A dance routine might be executed well, but if the choreography itself is lame, it won’t get many votes, no matter how well the dancers followed instructions. Danny loses himself in the giggles while Nigel is speaking, probably due to his nervousness, but gets himself under control before too long.